Chunias 



339 



THE CARIAMAS 



(Family Cariamidce) 



Eastern South America is the home of two very remarkable and closely 

 related birds known as Cariamas or Chunias, the systematic position of which 

 has given rise to much discussion and difference of opinion. They are large, 

 long-legged, crested birds, having a considerable superficial resemblance to the 







FIG. in. Chunia, or Burmeister's Cariama, Chunga burmeisteri. 



African Secretary-Bird, and were formerly associated with it as aberrant mem- 

 bers of the Falconiformes, but careful investigation of the osteology and anatomy 

 of the soft parts has shown conclusively that this view cannot hold. They have 



